A former CEO of the Mining
Association of British Columbia has withdrawn from providing a keynote
address January 26 to mining students at the University of British
Columbia (UBC), after the Alberta Securities Commission implicated his
company in a widespread share distribution scandal.

This week, Michael McPhie, a
prominent voice and advocate for the province’s mining sector, told
Scott Dundar, head of UBC’s mining engineering department, he would not
be the keynote speaker in light of the cease trade orders.

The thing with a junior exploreco is that all it's really got is a story. The story can be good, bad, indifferent, based on solid or even exciting hard data or perhaps just wing/prayer spiel, but its chances of success are wholly dependent on that story being good, transparent and trustworthy.

Take for example Palamina Corp (PA.v), the exploreco currently doing South Peru that decided the best way of getting its story out was to hire paid pump newsletter writers and pay them in cash, options or a combination thereof. That for me personally is a red flag and you might have a different view, but what we probably can agree upon is the red flag moment when the company quietly drops its VP Exploration from the roster for no apparent reason and without so much as a "other matters" paragraph in a news release. So why has Don McIver's name suddenly disappeared from the management roster page on the website and why has he been replaced as the QP in the news releases, leaving PA.v without a VP Exploration? After all, an exploreco without a VP Expl isn't much of an exploreco...

...for U$32.75m and announced this morning was bought from Indiana coJones himself, Keith Barron. Which is why he moved his official residence to Zug recently, of course. I'm going to defer from giving too much opinion on the deal, because there's still another 0.5% NSR out there held by Patrick Anderson. Barron and Anderson hate each other and don't talk any longer, by the way. Just thought I'd throw that one in.

No, of course Macri's government hasn't been an utter failure. And for sure when the Presidentials election in October this year comes up and the populist, non-neoliberal, socialist candidate wins by a mile from the Macri/Macri party candidate, the world willshake its head and wonder just why the Argentines can't see reason.

...is an attempt to gain a first move hold in a trend that we're likely to see develop over the next few years in the gold mining sector.The majors are changing and adapting, therefore we as investors must, too.

1/17/19

"To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness"

The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde

News today is that both President/CEO (Mark Cruise) and Chair (Mike Hoffman) of Trevali (TV.to) are resigning. Same day and all that.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Trevali Mining Corporate (“Trevali” or the “Company”) (TSX:TV; BVL: TV; OTCQX: TREVF; Frankfurt: 4TI) wishes
to announce that as part of the Company’s ongoing transformation,
vision and strategy to be a premier global base metals mining company,
Dr. Mark Cruise plans to step down as President and Chief Executive
Officer of the Company and Mr. Mike Hoffman plans to step down as Chair
of the Board of Directors of the Company.

Probably nothing, right? What with the company going from strength to stre...

It has yet to be confirmed, but it would seem that the VP Exploration of Progress Minerals who was apparently kidnapped a few days ago in Burkina Faso (close to the border with Niger) has been killed. A body fitting the description with a gunshot wound has just been reported by authorities.

1/16/19

A bit of a WTF fromthe BCSC this evening, as its press release updating on the so-called (and they so-called it, after all) "BridgeMark Scam" has revised and extended temporary prohibitions and cease-trade orders. But only on some of the players, not all of them and, believe it or not, one of the named entities no longer under prohibition order is BridgeMark Financial Corp. The reason seems to be buried in the decision document, where the judge on the case has agreed that in four of the eleven companies the prosecution has provided enough evidence but in the other seven, they have not. Here's the segment, from page 15 of the decision:

"With respect to the remaining seven Issuers (Kootenay, Affinor, Beleave, Liht, PreveCeutical, Speakeasy and Abattis), we find that the executive director has not provided prima facie evidence of their having engaged in conduct contrary to the public interest. The evidence establishes that they completed private placements with certain of the Non-Issuer Respondents using the Consultant Exemption and that the subscribers then quickly sold most of their shares acquired in the private placements at an average price less than the subscription price. There is also evidence that three of these Issuers paid significant consulting fees during the same financial period as the private placements, but we have no evidence on the nature of these services and to whom they were paid. That is suspicious and involves elements of the transactions of the other four Issuers. However, this evidence is closer to the “unsubstantiated suspicion” described in Fairtide than prima facie evidence of misconduct. Therefore, we are not going to extend the temporary orders against these seven Issuers."

Another day of absolute BS in the Canadian capital markets. I mean, even when the BCSC is brought out of its perma-slumber by the US SEC and forced to take action to clamp down on these scamsters, the case gets thrown out at the first instance by the courts. Absolutely incredible

Every single idiot who bought into Daniel "Davidoff Cigar" Ameduri's paid pump bullshit on Monday morning is now underwater. In just two trading days. He and Lior Gantz, who also claims to have received $300k from SSP.v for this pump, have once again cost anyone dumb enough to listen to them a lot of money.

They have made their paymasters that much richer, however.

UPDATE: Sandspring closed at 26.5c, a round trip in just three days. What a freakin' scam.

1/15/19

Just a couple of pennies added from its lows and a close under $2.00. We noted on Monday that it may come under pressure due to the Newcorpse deal, what with Newmont (NEM) the partner at Buriticá and its well-documented (and justified) nerves about the project. Sure enough that happened, but even when Ari Sussman came out today with...

"Ari Sussman, Chief Executive Officer of
the Company, stated: "Yesterday, the Company received numerous queries
of concern from our shareholders questioning whether our largest
shareholder, Newmont Mining, would remain engaged with Continental Gold
after its merger with Goldcorp. Newmont has unequivocally confirmed that
it 'remains supportive of Continental and the continued development of
the Buriticá project'.""

...there was little in the way of rebound. Perhaps because people are cottoning on to the way he finely crafts his sentences in pure legalese so they always sound like one thing but mean another. After all, consider a couple of different angles to that statement above:

By "remain engaged", do we mean happy to fund future capex, or just hold the shares it already owns? Does it mean "keep the directors on the board", because the alternative to that one would be particularly dire. Fact is, it would be very difficult for NEM not to be "engaged with Continental Gold" after the merger. And by the way, what does "after" mean here, too? A day? A year?

A confirmation from Newmont yes fine, but from who in Newmont? Goldberg? The board? Or maybe just maybe a country office level in NEM?

Switching gears slightly, if you rang up a person, company, insto or entity of any shape or form that happens to hold 19.9% of your company shares then asked them if they support the company, take a wild guess as to what reply you'd receive. After all, the art of the attorney at law is to ask questions to which you already know the answer, is it not?

So perhaps CNL didn't react because the market is bored with the same old blather from CNL. But hey, WTFDIK, it might zoom 30% tomorrow morning.

Keith Laskowski (currently wearing his bow ties in Sandstorm (SAND)) has been around the mining scene for donkey's years and has been in more than a few scrapes along the way, so when he gets the opportunity to spin an anecdote for Northern Miner even your humble scribe can get over the fact he's writing for a publication with an arch-racist and bribe-taker as editor-in-chief (yes John Cumming, I'm talking about you). So go read Laskowski's piece published today (no paywall),"The Treasure of Leija Cave", mining people out there will enjoy and a fair slice of you are bound to identify with the tale.

As the guy who sent this over to IKN Nerve Centre said, "You cannot make this shit up". Yes indeed, for the modest sum of $75 (and don't forget your formal cocktail wear) you too can sit and listen to one of the players in the Vancouver world of rip-off scam junior mining teach university students how to be just like him. The CEO of Prize Mining (PRZ.v), under investigation for corrupt activities and under Cease Trade Order for failure to file its financials, is the freakin guest of honour and head speaker at this bash on January 26th.

UBC Department of Mining Dinner

Join UBC Mining students, faculty, and alumni on
Saturday, January 26, 2019, for the 23rd Annual UBC Mining Alumni
Dinner. Mix and mingle with friends old and new from the Norman B.
Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering with keynote speaker Mike McPhie.

Mr. McPhie brings over 20 years as an executive in the mining and
minerals industry with significant experience in taking projects and
companies from discovery through to development and operations. This
includes capital markets, IPO’s, M&A, and project financing. His
primary expertise focused on copper, gold and silver projects in leading
their design, permitting and development. Michael currently serves as
Chair of the Board of IDM Mining Ltd., Founder and CEO of Falkirk
Resource Consultants Ltd. and Chair of the Board of Ridley Terminals
Inc. Previously, Michael was the founding President and CEO of Curis
Resources Ltd., a copper development company which he led to IPO in 2010
and was subsequently taken-over by Taseko Mines Ltd. in 2014. He has
served as a Director and EVP of Exeter Resource Corporation, CEO of the
Mining Association of British Columbia and a Policy Director with
Canada’s Department of Natural Resources. He is recent past Chair of the
Board of the Association for Mineral Exploration BC (AMEBC) and Chair
of the Board of Governors of the British Columbia Institute of
Technology (BCIT). Michael earned his B.Sc. from Simon Fraser
University, M.Sc. from Royal Roads University and is a registered
Qualified Environmental Professional (QEP).

Not usual IKN material, but as this is an important report (that the FT has decided to leave outside its paywall) on the recent election in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the high likelihood of fraud having been committed there and the exposure that the mining industry has to the country, it's a good link to offer on this humble corner of cyberspace. Right here, go read, here's how it kicks off:

1/14/19

A must-read report for anyone who cares enough about Canada's capital markets to want them cleaned of scumbags and rip-off merchants. North Shore News has the gig, which sets the scene for the hearing in the Alberta Securities Commission hearing brought against Prize Mining (PRZ.v) with company CEO and chief enabler of this scam present in the room, Mike McPhie. Here's an excerpt:

Prize entered a deal in July 2018 to issue $6.5 million worth of new
shares to 18 BridgeMark Group consultants while simultaneously agreeing
to $5.5 million worth of prepaid services for marketing and investor
relations, the ASC claimed.

The claim mirrors allegations set out by the BCSC, which claims at
least 11 Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE)-listed companies issued
about $51 million worth of shares to so-called consultants, under
consultant exemptions, but repaid most of the money in consulting
agreements. The companies touted the fundraising activity as investor
interest. BCSC says actual consulting didn’t occur. The consultants,
dubbed the BridgeMark Group by the BCSC, then immediately flogged the
shares for an overall profit to retail investors, who were then left
with devalued shares.

It’s unknown if the Prize consultants sold off their shares, although the stock is now trading at $0.04.

The band of industry players who got Detour to knuckle under has just released a comment on the news that Newmont is taking over Goldcorpse. Here ya go, fresh out the oven:

The
Shareholders’ Gold Council (SGC) expresses its disappointment with the
lack of alignment between Goldcorp CEO David Garofalo’s pay and
incentives
and the interests of Goldcorp’s shareholders. Since Mr. Garofalo’s
appointment as CEO on February 29, 2016, Goldcorp’s stock price has
fallen by 26%, while its peers, as measured by the GDX, have risen by
10% and the price of gold is up 4%. As CEO, Mr. Garofalo
received over Cdn. $16 million in aggregate compensation during 2016
and 2017 alone. His 2018 compensation is not yet publicly disclosed.
According to Goldcorp’s most recent information circular, Mr. Garofalo
now stands to make up to an additional approximately
Cdn. $11 million under his change of control provisions. While Mr.
Garofalo has been massively overpaid, stockholders have lost over
Cdn.$3.7 billion since his appointment, and Goldcorp now wants to sell
itself at only a slight premium to its 1,3,5,7 and 10-year
low in share price. The merger with Newmont is only a victory for
shareholders in as much as it eliminates another gold company with
executive incentives that are grossly misaligned with those of shareholders.

Remember this from last week? Well, it turns out they were offering their pals a last chance to get out before the cruel reality was unveiled:

I like it when companies like this come along. You get to go to the website, run down the names of the C-suite, make a note of them and remember never to touch a company that decides toemploy them down the line.

...and with this deal, David Garofalo cements his reputation as the luckiest mining executive in the world. Because it wasn't talent that made him rich.

There are many ramifications to this (NR here), but one small one that keeps floating back to my mind is how worried CNL.to must be now. Another would be that WRN.to must be happy. Another, bet you that Bristow tries for the 40% od Pueblo Viejo they don't own. Lots of things, here.

The other angle that comes to mind is B2Gold, as it's no longer whether but when it gets bought out. And while thinking about suitors, don't overlook Barrick, as having Top Dog status snatched away so quickly by Newmont/Goldcorpse (anyone for Newcorpse?) won't go down well with somebody who's idea of fun is shooting large animals and posing for photos next to their dead bodies.

PS: On reflection and if ever faced with the choice of buying one or the other, there's no contest. I'd take Randick over Newcorpse every single time, the latter is going to become one bloated corporate pig.

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